In view of the traditional D-H parameter method has many disadvantages，such as the local coordinate system needs to be established on every joint， the modeling process is complex， the geometric meaning is not clear and the inverse solution leads to the rooting problem， the kinematics modeling of snakelike robot which has many joints and high structural redundancy was studied，and the method of the snakelike robot’s position modeling based on screw theory was proposed． Meanwhile，the equivalence between the D-H parameter method and the screw theory modeling method were proved，and the velocity Jacobi matrices of snakelike robot were solved by using the exponential product formula based on screw theory，establishing the speed model of the snakelike robot． The motion simulation of the snakelike robot was carried out by using Adams software． The measured linear velocity and angular velocity curves of the end effecter are consistent with the linear velocity and angular velocity curves of the end effecter calculated by Matlab． The results show that screw theory modeling method is correct， simple and effective．